If it seems to you I have not been not around blogland much except on weekends, it’s because that is the case. I already was working a lot before our hiatus; and the amount of work to be done has only increased since then. We’re nearing the finish line; but I still have a couple more weeks of long days. In the career I have chosen, the long days come and go. Unfortunately, I’ve been assigned to two projects whose success is vital to our business back to back.
I “like” being selected to work on high visibility projects because it’s an acknowledgment of my skills and accomplishments. But, I do need a low key project from time to time. The good thing about working on critical projects as opposed to low-key tasks with open-ended timelines is that, assuming you get finished on time and under budget, you don’t have to worry much about being laid off. The bad thing is that you end up surrounded by a lot of nervous directors and VPs. And, of course, there is that whole not spending enough time with your family thing. In a way, the other members of the project team and I are victims of our own success.
I’ve always been good at what I do and expect to succeed; so I don’t have a true understanding of what is like to be a chieftain and basically have your future in the hands of an extremely capable but very overworked and somewhat irritable project team. All they can do is watch and hope. I think I would be nervous too if I was in their position; but, as hard as it is to do, the best thing they can do is leave us alone to do our job. And feed us when it gets late.
When the long days and nights are over, I’m going to take some very well deserved time off and do something nice for the family. And California Girl and I will probably have some very “interesting” photographs for the blog. 
